The Boggart
by HomemadeMagic
Summary: From PoA: 'I once saw a boggart make that very mistake...tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug...' Remus remembers his third year and the boggart that led his friends to the truth about his mysterious disappearances.
1. In Which Rats Become Slugs

Chapter 1: In Which Rats Become Slugs, and Sirius Gets Suspicious

A/N: This hit me over the head when I re-read Prisoner of Azkaban while I was on vacation. I borrowed my dad's laptop every day until it was done. I intended it to be a short story, but it got really long so I decided to split it up a little bit. This was the result. It's now been revised a bit to match with Half-Blood Prince, so please watch out for spoilers. I've also polished some scenes and tweaked some characterization, so it should be a better read.

Speaking of revision, I haven't got a clue when Voldemort came to ask Dumbledore if he could teach DADA as compared to when the Marauders were at school, so I had an interesting time deciding how to handle that aspect of the story. None of the timelines I looked at gave any conclusive answers and unfortunately I don't have a copy of Half-Blood Prince on hand to re-read the scene. So I did the best I could, and left it open to both possibilities - it could have been pure coincidence that their professor wasn't there for three years in a row, or it could be the curse.

Disclaimer: I'm not profiting off this at all, and I don't own the characters. This is all just fun and speculation.  
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* * *

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_"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Professor Lupin. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks--I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock..."_

_"It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake--tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."_

* * *

Remus watched with a smile on his face as his third year students filed out, talking excitedly about the boggart they had just vanquished together. He knew Snape wouldn't be very pleased with him, but Remus hadn't been able to resist the chance to get back at the man who still carried a grudge after all these years. Although it wasn't entirely his fault - how was he supposed to know that Snape would be the boy's worst fear? Yet somehow, Remus didn't think the other professor would see it that way. He fully intended to stay out of Snape's way for a while. Remus quietly left the staff room and retreated to his office, carefully avoiding the other teachers, especially Snape. 

Remus couldn't help but doubt the wisdom of making Snape a teacher. Neville would be an excellent student, if he just had a little more confidence - and Snape seemed intent on making sure he never had a shred. It was biased, unfair and cruel - but then, when had Snape been any different? Remus sighed. He knew too well the truth of that particular thought.

Well, he had his work cut out for him, Remus decided. But Neville would learn soon enough, and he was already on his way. There was nothing like vanquishing your fears to give you a little ego boost. He smiled at the thought of Snape in a dress. Sirius would have been proud of that one.

Remus' smile froze and dropped off his face. Sirius. No. Black. Never Sirius. Always Black. Thirteen years, and he still couldn't stop thinking about the bastard. What would it take for him to get over it? He sighed and dropped his head down on the desk, feeling angry and disgusted with himself. _Snape's right about me,_ he thought bitterly, _I might as well be supporting the man for all the good I've done here. Can't even open my mouth and tell Dumbledore the truth_.

He groaned. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why had he ever trusted the man? _I was young_, he thought immediately, _We were all young. I was a werewolf. I would have trusted anyone who wasn't cruel to me. It wasn't my fault! _He had repeated these words to himself every day for the last thirteen years, and he still didn't believe them.

Every time he gathered his courage to tell Dumbledore about Siriu--Black's Animagus form, the words died on his lips. Why couldn't he do it? Why was he such a coward? Black had betrayed him. He had betrayed Lily and James. If anyone deserved to be in Azkaban, to have his soul sucked out, it was him.

And yet, Remus' traitorous mind protested, as it did every time, Black had kept his secret. All those years in Hogwarts and beyond, and no one had every known. Except Snape, he reminded himself. And look where that had got him - but he knew it was a feeble argument. It had been reckless and immature, but it hadn't cost Remus his life or his freedom. Of course Snape hated him now, but then, Remus thought with a resigned smile, he always had.

Black had kept his secret, Remus thought again. Ever since that night in the Shack, he had never said a word. Couldn't he do the same?

And yet...every time he looked into Harry's green eyes and saw his messy hair, he saw Lily and James looking back at him reproachfully. The boy's parents ahd died betrayed by their best friend. It had worked out for the best, in the end, with Voldemort's defeat, but no one deserved that kind of death, and Harry didn't deserve the life he lived as a result. Black had betrayed Harry's parents. He deserved justice. Was Remus not just as guilty for withholding information that would bring it to him?

He could push all these feelings down if it wasn't for Harry. The boy's haunted green eyes seemed to stared at him at every turn. Remus knew when he looked into them that everything was his fault. He had trusted Black, and because he and Lily and James had been so foolish, Harry had seen things that most wizards died facing. Remus shuddered to think what memories the Dementors brought him - the boy had fainted on the train, and he could only imagine why. He had been afraid to let Harry fight the boggart - the horrors in Harry's memory were not the sort of thing he wanted appearing in the classroom. Children afraid of banshees and spiders would not react well to Lord Voldemort's appearance in the classroom.

Not that anyone else would, Remus thought grimly. And he and his friends hadn't exactly had any more terrifying fears, he thought, and couldn't suppress a grin at the thought. That memory was fresh in his mind today, and for good reason. He had taken half his speech to the third years from it. It had been in his own third year, on the third day of term...

* * *

The third year class filed into the classroom, chattering happily. Most of the conversation was wondering what this year's classes would be like. Their professor had been away during their second year, and the substitute hadn't been very good. Their first year, their professor had thought to teach them the basics first, but this year he had promised more action. The class was currently engaged in wondering what exactly he had planned for them. 

Four students, however, were uninterested in this line of talk. "Remus," James was saying, "Where were you last night? It was only the second night! Your mother can't be sick already!"

Remus was pale, and there were dark shadows under his eyes as if he had been up all night, but his voice was steady as he answered. "No, I had a slight cold," he said smoothly, "I had to go to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey kept me overnight and made me eat breakfast in the Hospital Wing. She wouldn't let me go until the second bell."

Sirius gave him a sharp look. "You didn't have a runny nose yesterday in class."

Remus flushed. Why did his friends have to be so observant? He was about to answer, but James unwittingly came to his rescue. "He looked tired, though," the other boy pointed out, "Not as bad as he does now, but he kept falling asleep at dinner, remember?"

"That's true..." Sirius said, but he gave Remus a suspicious look that made the other boy swallow nervously and hope he wasn't turning too red.

"You're so lucky you missed class," Peter said enviously.

Sirius gave a bark of laughter. "Remus? Miss class? He probably went mad!"

Remus smiled. "I was afraid she'd keep me all day."

"Typical," Sirius muttered. "I'd have given anything to be sick through that Potions class we just had. Miserable!"

"Slughorn hasn't gotten any better, huh?" Remus said with a small smile.

"Oy," Sirius replied gloomily, "Man just wouldn't shut up. Kept going on about how smart Evans is, and wouldn't shut it about Snape either. Greasy bastard couldn't keep the smug look off his slimy face. Like to break his big fat nose," he added moodily.

Peter looked at him nervously. "You'll get expelled for sure!" He protested.

"S'bound to happen anyway, according to McGonagall," Sirius said, "Might as well be for a good reason."

Remus wasn't sure what to say to this pessimistic statement, but luckily James always knew the proper response to Sirius' gloominess. "Don't worry, mate, we'll take care of him. I've got...ideas for this year."

Sirius brightened. "Good. Let's talk after class."

"Did he even _do _anything to you?" Remus asked, but they didn't notice. He sighed. "What about your other classes?" He said, changing the subject. "What happened yesterday?"

"Divination," James groaned.

"Professor Silvasky is nutters," Peter said, "We shouldn't have signed up for that class."

"You're just saying that because she said you were going to die," James told him.

"Lucky we didn't take it, Remus," Sirius said with a grin. "Of course, James only took it so he could be with _Lily_."

"Shut it, Sirius," James said easily. "He's right though, Remus...you're lucky you didn't take that class. It's a nightmare."

"You'll give me your Potions notes, though, won't you?" Remus said anxiously.

"Of course, Professor Lupin, don't be so crabby," Sirius said lightly. "Anyway, Remus would _die_ before he missed a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. It would be like James missing Transfiguration."

"Shut it, Sirius," James said again, "Anyway, I wouldn't want to miss Defense either. It's supposed to be more fun your third year..."

"Wait, aren't we missing something?" Peter said suddenly.

The four boys looked around.

"Yeah," James said finally, "We're supposed to have a teacher."

The other three blinked at him. "So we are," said Remus, "Where is he, anyway?"

By now the rest of the class had realized that they were alone in the room. They had taken out their books, parchment and quills, and were now wondering loudly what could have happened to their professor. Sirius was describing in great detail all the gruesome deaths he could have fallen to when the door opened and their teacher walked in, looking slightly frazzled.

"I have a special treat for you today!" He said in his great, booming voice, "I know you all have been looking forward to meeting some _deadly monsters_, so I thought I'd find a _dangerous creature_ for you to _gruesomely vanquish_. Put away your books, take out your wands, and come with me!"

The class did so, exchanging nervous, and, in the case of Sirius and James, excited looks. "A practical Defense class!" Sirius was saying excitedly as they walked down the hall, "I can't wait to see what we're fighting!"

"I hope it's not anything too dangerous," said Peter, who had turned whiter and whiter at each word of his teacher's speech. "You don't think he would give us anything that could kill us, do you?"

"Peter! Lighten up, it'll be fun!" Sirius said impatiently. Peter didn't look convinced.

"Professor Greenbriar wouldn't give us anything too dangerous, Pete," James said repressively, "Just relax, all right? You're not going to _die_."

"Okay..." said Peter, but he still looked a little green.

They followed Professor Greenbriar around a corner and into...a dead end. There was nothing in the hallway but a large grandfather clock standing up against the wall. It seemed to be chiming a lot more than usual...and a closer look revealed that it was shaking a little bit.

"Here we are, class!" Professor Greenbriar said cheerfully, standing in front of the clock and beaming at them. "Gather round, gather round! Don't be too nervous!" he added to the people who were eyeing the clock apprehensively, "There's a boggart in there! A terrifying creature, yes, but I'm confident any deaths today won't be _too_ ghastly!"

This did not seem to calm anyone down - most people looked even more frightened than they had been before, and Peter was shaking with terror.

Not everyone looked scared, though - James and Sirius looked positively delighted, and their Muggleborn classmate Lily Evans, only looked mildly interested. She probably hadn't heard all the horror stories about boggarts, Remus decided.

"Now, before we let the boggart out, let's talk a little bit about them," Professor Greenbriar said, getting ready to lecture.

"Most boggarts like enclosed spaces - the space underneath beds, wardrobes, cupboards - I've never seen one in a grandfather clock before, but apparently the Headmaster realized there was something in it when the hands on the clock started going round and round for no reason." He beamed at them. "I asked him if I could use it for a lesson with my new third years! I thought it would be an interesting first lesson. Aren't you glad we're done taking notes?"

The class gave a weak chuckle, but most people were still eyeing the clock apprehensively. Their professor gave them a short lecture on the properties of boggarts and how to banish them, and then they got down to business.

"Now, would anyone like to assist me?"

James' and Sirius' hands shot up instantly, but Professor Greenbriar was looking thoughtful. "No...how about you, Mr. Pettigrew?"

Peter gave a small squeak, and James and Sirius put their hands down, looking disappointed. "Um...me, Professor?"

"Yes of course, Mr. Pettigrew, you'll be perfect for this," Professor Greenbriar said briskly, "Come up here with me, please. Thank you. Now, first things first. What is the one thing that frightens you the most?"

Peter gave a terrified glance to the rest of the class, but they were all watching him with interest and had no help for him, so he was forced to look back into the cheerful red face of the professor. "Well...there are a lot of things, Professor," he said honestly. The class laughed.

"There has to be one thing, Mr. Pettigrew, that scares you the most, can you think of what it is? You can take a minute," the professor said kindly.

"Um...actually, I'm rather scared of rats," Peter squeaked nervously, and privately Remus thought he sounded rather like a rat himself.

"Okay, so when the boggart sees you, it will turn into a rat. Now don't be alarmed, Mr. Pettigrew, but it will probably turn into a rather large rat, possibly with red eyes and sharp teeth and a foaming mouth. Now, Mr. Pettigrew, don't squeak, you'll manage. The way to vanquish a boggart is laughter - to force it into a shape that makes it amusing. So to vanquish your rat, you will have to make it funny. Can you think of a way to make it funny, Mr. Pettigrew?"

"Put it in a dress," Sirius said promptly.

"What is it with you and putting things in dresses?" James said under his breath (but loudly enough for everyone to hear, of course). "Let's put Snape in a dress, let's put the school owls in dresses, let's turn Malfoy's robes into a dress..."

The class laughed, and Peter grinned weakly. Professor Greenbriar was holding back a smile. "Thank you Mr. Potter, that's enough. So what'll it be, Mr. Pettigrew?"

"I'll...put it in a dress," Peter said.

"What kind of dress?" the professor prompted.

Peter gulped. "I...I don't..."

"Pink," Sirius whispered to him.

"Pink," Peter repeated firmly.

Professor Greenbriar looked disappointed, for some reason. "You don't have any ideas of your own? No additions?"

Peter stared at him in confusion. "What?"

"Never mind," he said impatiently, "Anything else?"

"Polka dots," said James under his breath, and Peter repeated this suggestion dutifully.

Professor Greenbriar sighed. "All right. And how about a big pink bow on the tail?"

"Okay," Peter agreed.

The class was giggling now, and the clock was chiming louder than ever. "Can you picture that in your mind's eye, Mr. Pettigrew? Get a clear image of that rat, and when you point your wand at the boggart and say _Riddikulus_, it should be forced into that dress."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, I want the rest of you to decide what you are the most afraid of and how you can make it amusing. I'll give you a moment to think."

The hallway was quiet as people thought. Remus didn't even have to decide what he was afraid of - he knew it had to be the full moon. But how could he make it funny? It turned him into a bloody _monster_ every month, how could he laugh at it? Maybe if he blew it up right out of the sky...he grinned. Yeah, that would be cool. Like breaking a glass ball...

"Time's up!" said Professor Greenbriar cheerfully. "Hope you're ready to face your fears!" And with that, he pointed his wand at the clock's door and made it fly open. "Pettigrew! Go!"

The class screamed as a giant rat came scuttling out of the door, evil and foaming at the mouth. Peter froze.

"PETTIGREW! GO!" Professor Greenbriar yelled.

"Peter! Do it!" James, Sirius and Remus urged him.

"_R-R-Riddikulus!_" Peter stammered finally, and the whlole class burst out laughing as the rat rose up on its hind feet, wearing a little pink dress.

"Smith! Forward!" Professor Greenbriar yelled when the boggart froze, confused.

One of their classmates rushed forward. The next few minutes were a blur as people vanquished zombies, mummies, banshees and Lethifolds. Then...

"LUPIN! Forward!"

Remus' blood froze. It was just as bad as he had feared. The full moon shone ominously above his head, a symbol of everything he hated and feared about himself. "_Riddikulus!_"

There was a shattering sound as the moon broke into a thousand pieces all over the ground. Remus felt a wave of satisfaction, and he laughed out loud with glee. He barely even noticed that the rest of the class was silent and staring at him in confusion.

"Very good, Lupin. Potter! Black! Stop staring!"

But James and Sirius hadn't been paying attention, and when they heard their names they both ran up at once. The boggart became bewildered, and they didn't even have to say the incantation because it became...half a slug?

There was a wave of confused laughter. There was a series of cracks as the boggart switched from a severed hand, a spider, and a rattlesnake.

"Very good, class, you've confused it! Pettigrew! Come here and finish it off!"

Peter rushed forward and waved his wand. Remus got a faint glimpse of a pink dress before the boggart disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

"Excellent, class! Excellent! Potter, Black, what happened with you?"

"We got confused, Professor," said James, who was rather red in the face.

"Not to worry, Potter, not to worry. What was your worst fear?"

James exchanged glances with Sirius. "A headless corpse, sir."

"And you, Mr. Black?"

"Flesh-eating slugs."

"Ah! Well, it all makes sense now. You see, you confused it by advancing at the same time. It wasn't sure what it should have become, and so it was not at all frightening. That was fantastic, boys, ten points to Gryffindor. And I think five to everyone who vanquished the boggart, and of course ten to Mr. Pettigrew - you did it twice. That was wonderful, class, thank you very much. You are dismissed."

The class turned and left the hallway, chattering excitedly.

"Half a slug! That was so COOL!" Sirius glowed.

"Did you see the rat?" Peter said happily.

"Yeah, that was cool, Peter," James said with a grin. "I'm glad I didn't have to see a headless corpse!"

"Lucky you," Remus said, but he wasn't smiling.

"What's wrong, Remus?" Sirius said.

"Yeah...why are you afraid of crystal balls?" Peter asked.

"I think that Divination class went to your head," Sirius said. "I thought it was a--"

"It's a long story," Remus interrupted, "I'll tell you sometime. Let's just go to lunch, I'm starved."

The others made loud agreements and sped up down the hall, but Remus wasn't sure his distraction worked on Sirius - he was still giving him suspicious looks all the way through lunch.


	2. In Which Sirius Drives James Mad

Chapter 2: In Which Sirius Drives James Mad, So Everything is Fairly Normal

A/N: This chapter has been revised, and now matches with the canon in Half Blood Prince, especially as it pertains to a certain werewolf Death Eater. I'm not entirely positive if the general public was aware of him at the time this story is set in, but we do know he was around, so call it artistic liberty that the other three Marauders were aware of him.

Disclaimer: The Marauders are controlling my brain. I did not invent them, but they are inside my head anyway. There has GOT to be something wrong with that situation. JKR, please, take them away from me, they're driving me crazy...

* * *

_"Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her..."_

_

* * *

_A few days later, James and Sirius were sitting at a table in the Common Room, swearing at pieces of parchment that were supposed to be Potions essays. Peter had mumbled something tiredly about doing it later and left the room, and Remus, who had finished his essay two days ago, had retreated upstairs to sleep. Sirius had noted that he still looked a little pale, and had asked him about his cold, but Remus had dodged the question yet again...

For as long as he had known Remus, Sirius had been getting a nagging feeling that there was something strange about him - some mystery yet unexplained. There was something odd about how he kept disappearing once a month, and how he always looked really sick when he came back. If it was his mother that was ill, why did he always look like Death warmed over? And yet when they asked him, he just shrugged and found some way to avoid giving a straight answer.

"Hey, James?"

"STUPID bloody book with its unhelpful--what? Damned impossible index..." James said absentmindedly, trying to look something in an ancient-looking tome of Potions ingredients.

"D'you think there's something funny about Remus?"

"Won't bloody well give me a straight answer about--"

"JAMES!"

James jumped and looked up. "What, did you find something good?"

"No, I asked you if you think there's something funny about Remus?"

"I don't know, Sirius, I'm trying to do this bloody essay, and I can't find--"

"No, I want to talk to you while he's not here, I really think there's something strange about how he keeps disappearing every month."

"He says his mother's ill," James said, finally tearing himself away from his book.

"I know, but it's a little bit weird, y'know? And...well..." Sirius lowered his voice and leaned forward. "You saw his boggart today."

"What, the crystal ball?"

"You and Peter...I really think the fumes from that Divination room muddled your head. It didn't look like a crystal ball to me."

"Well, what do you think it looked like?"

"I think it looked like a full moon."

"You're mad! Why would Remus be afraid of the moon? And didn't it shatter?"

"No, I'm serious! Think about it...James, it was hanging in mid-air. If he was afraid of the moon, wouldn't he want it to just be...blasted out of the sky?"

"Yeah, but why would someone be afraid of the _moon?_ Anyway, he said it was a crystal ball."

"No he didn't."

"What? I could have sworn..."

"No, that was Peter. Remember? I started to say I thought it was a moon, and he interrupted me and said it was a 'long story' and he'd 'tell us sometime.' He changed the subject on us!"

"Hmmm..." said James thoughtfully, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"You see? And he's always looking sick...there's something funny going on here, James."

"Well, how do you know the boggart and the sickness are related? It could be two different things."

"It seems to be a constant condition, doesn't it? He's always leaving, he's always sick...if he's got some kind of chronic illness, wouldn't something related to it be his worst fear?"

"Well, maybe you're right. But I don't think we should bother him about it. If he doesn't want to tell us, it's his business."

"Yeah..."

"Let's just get this bloody Potions essay out of the way, and then we can worry about mysterious disappearances and lunar boggarts."

"James, you've been working on this essay for far too long."

"That's my POINT!"

"Whatever..."

But as they pulled the books towards them again, Sirius couldn't keep his thoughts from straying. There was something about the moon...he just couldn't put his finger on it...

* * *

About three weeks later, it was October, and nothing had changed. Sirius kept a sharp eye on Remus, but the boy seemed to be in perfect health. He came to all his classes and studied harder than any of them - he even managed to get a week ahead of them. They teased him about it, but it didn't strike Sirius as odd until a week later, when Remus' mother fell ill - again. 

"What _is_ it about him?" Sirius asked James in frustration. "It's been _exactly one month_ since he was sick in the Hospital Wing! It's like he knew he was going to be gone! How did he _know_?"

"I don't know, and I really wish you would stop asking me these questions when I'm in the middle of writing essays!"

"What're you talking about?" Peter asked, who was also trying to do the essay, "Does anyone know what the characteristics of a Grindylow are?"

"_Yes_, Peter, it's right here!" James said, shoving a book at him and pointing at a passage. "You've asked me that five times in the last ten minutes!"

"But I don't understand what it means!"

James sighed loudly and explained it to him.

"I don't know why we're still doing these wimpy creatures anyway," Sirius said thoughtfully, "I want to know how to defend myself against the _real_ Dark Creatures."

"Like what, O Great Auror Black?" James asked sarcastically.

"I don't know..." Sirius flipped through his textbook. "Vampires? Werewolves? Yeah, I'd like to know more about werewolves...that would be a _cool _lesson."

"I don't know...werewolves are kind of scary," Peter said anxiously, "D'you really think they'll teach us that stuff?"

"You've got to be prepared! And anyway, they're only dangerous once a month," James said reasonably.

"_I_ heard a story about a werewolf who bit somebody and became one _permanently_," Sirius said solemnly to Peter...but as soon as he looked away, he threw James a huge wink.

"What happened?" said Peter, fascinated.

"Well, he was trapped, wasn't he? His brain couldn't decide whether he was a wolf or a man...he went insane and got really dangerous, but he was smart enough to stay away from silver and they never caught him...he's still out there."

"Really?"

"Yeah...it's a full moon tonight," Sirius said, looking out the window, "He could be out there _right now_."

They were all silent for a minute. Was it just them, or was that a howl?

"He's pulling your leg, Peter," James said finally, breaking the silence.

"Potter! You traitor!"

James smirked at him. "Those are just children's stories. They can't become werewolves permanently when they bite someone, and they're only dangerous once a month. The rest of the time they're fine."

"Then why do you hear such horrible stories about them?" Peter asked.

"People are scared," James shrugged, "They get really paranoid about all this stuff, so the Ministry's put really strict laws up that keep close tabs on them and prevent them from doing a lot of stuff."

"Well why don't they just make sure they have somewhere safe to go during the full moon?"

"You'd think that would be smart, wouldn't you?" James said with a grin, "But no, people are too scared. My dad always says it's stupid, but that's the way it is."

"Wow, you're lucky your dad knows so much," Peter said enviously.

"Yeah. What do your parents think about werewolves, Sirius?"

"Oh, you know," Sirius said offhandedly, "They're so prejudiced about everything...they think werewolves are evil dangerous beasts who should be locked in rooms of silver and fed bread and water."

"That's awful!" Peter protested.

"What do you think, Sirius?" James asked.

"I think they're _cool_," Sirius said with a grin. "Anything my parents hate is awesome in my book. I think we should be nicer to them so they don't...you know...end up on the wrong side."

"Like that one werewolf," James said with a shudder.

"What?"

"Greyback? Heard of him?"

"Oh yeah," Sirius frowned. "He's that nutter who became a werewolf on purpose and likes to bite little kids?"

Peter shuddered. "What? Why does he do that?" He squeaked, his voice going up an octave.

"Crazy," James said flatly, "Bites them, gets them over to his side and brainwashes them to hate wizards. And of course the Ministry doesn't exactly help, putting all those laws in."

"But if they really are crazy!" Peter protested.

"And being prejudiced is going to help?" Sirius frowned darkly at him. "All those laws are just making Greyback's propaganda true!"

"I guess so," said Peter, but he didn't sound completely convinced.

They were quiet for a minute.

"Well, we're not doing werewolves right now," James said, "We're doing Grindylows. Someone look up the information on how to defeat them..."

And they were back to work again..

* * *

Two Days Later... 

"Feeling better, Remus?" Sirius said, leaning over his friend's bed.

"Mggrrrmpth."

"I think that was a no," James hazarded.

"You want to come to class this morning?" Peter asked.

"Mrght...?"

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions," Sirius replied, ignoring Peter's "What!"

"Mrrrrrrrgh!"

"He wants to come," Sirius translated, "Well, get yourself up, moon-boy, or there'll be no breakfast left."

"Mmmmmmph. I'm sure." Remus raised his head and looked at Sirius through blood-shot eyes. "Moon-boy? Where did you get _that_ from?"

Sirius shrugged. "Your boggart was a moon, right? I was hoping to scare you out of bed..."

"Whatever..." Remus swung his feet over the bed and looked at them all blearily. "I have to get dressed, don't I?"

Peter giggled, and Sirius and James exchanged amused glances. "Do I have to call you moon-boy for you to wake up more? Yes, you have to get dressed."

Remus grumbled something obscene at him and stumbled into the bathroom.

Peter and James watched him, then turned to look at Sirius. "What d'you mean he's afraid of the moon?" Peter said.

"Remember his boggart?" Sirius' eyes were on the closed bathroom door. "I think it was a moon...a full moon..."

"You're cracked, Sirius," James said, "When are you going to stop obsessing over that?"

"I'm telling you, there's something funny about him, and I think his boggart has something to do with it, and I want to know what it IS!"

"You want to know what what is?" Remus asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Nothing. Remus, your hair is sticking up on one side," Sirius said.

"I know. I don't care. I'm _starving_, what's for breakfast?"

"Let's go down and see."

* * *

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that day was about...on a strange coincidence...werewolves. This year Professor Greenbriar had decided that a good way to get them ready for Halloween was to scare the bejeezus out of them, so they had taken time out from their normal lessons to teach scarier subjects. Next week they were doing vampires. 

Sirius was gleeful. Remus, on the other hand, was still looking pale. In fact, the longer the lesson went on, the paler and more sickly-looking he got. Professor Greenbriar kept shooting nervous looks at him, and his friends kept asking him if he wanted to go to the Hospital Wing, but he just shook his head.

It was the first time in weeks that Sirius had seen Remus not taking notes in a class, and yet, he wrote three feet of parchment that night without even looking in a book.

Sirius, on the other hand, had taken out stacks and stacks of books, and was gleefully going through them, all the while peppering them with facts about werewolves. "Hey, did you know how painful the werewolf transformation is? Look at these pictures, isn't it _awful?_ And did you know some people _choose_ to become werewolves? Greyback wasn't the only one! What psychos!"

Remus had been looking down at his essay, but at these words, his head shot up. "That's insane," he said flatly.

"_Isn't_ it?" Sirius said, glad that someone was finally listening to him; James and Peter had been making noncomittal "mm-hmmm" noises and working through their Herbology homework. "They want a wild ride through life, this book says."

"By becoming a monster every night and ripping their own flesh out. Yeah, that's a wild ride through life," Remus said sarcastically.

"Wow, Remus, you sound bitter, is there something you need to tell us?" Remus froze, but Sirius didn't seem to notice - his nose was already back in the book. "And look, they run out in the woods at night without taking any precautions at all..."

"That's insane! I thought it was just the one! No wonder the Ministry has such strict regulations on werewolves!" Peter said, looking up from his Herbology notes at last.

"I know! And what about the poor people that get bit because they're irresponsible? _They_ didn't ask to be werewolves, and now they have to deal with the Ministry's stupid rules!" Sirius said angrily. "These morons are are making everybody suffer so they can have their fun!"

"That's so stupid," Peter agreed.

"What's the look for, Remus?"

"Nothing...you guys are really tolerant about this stuff, aren't you?"

Sirius gave him a surprised look. "Well...yeah, if you say so. Why?"

Remus shrugged. "Most people aren't that accepting."

"We're the oddballs," said Sirius, giving him a lopsided smile. "What do you think about werewolves?"

"I agree with you."

"So you're an oddball, too! We can be the Werewolf Rights Committee!"

Remus smiled. "I kind of like that."

"We'll hand out pamphlets and yell in people's faces about how insensitive they are! We should start a campaign!" Sirius said enthusiastically.

"Sirius..." James said, finally speaking up, "I don't think that'll work. Werewolf prejudices have been in place for thousands of years, four teenage boys aren't going to change that in a couple months."

"Well, I can dream. Go back to your essay, Wet-Rag Potter."

"Yes, Professor Black."

"You take that BACK!"

"Why do their conversations end with them fighting so often?" Peter asked as Sirius and James promptly began hitting each other.

"That's just how they are. C'mon, Peter, let's finish this homework."

* * *

Later that night, Sirius was still engrossed in his book about werewolves. He had stopped pestering them with facts and was now sitting by himself in one corner of the Common Room, reading so intently that he didn't even notice when James started flinging balls of wadded-up parchment at him.

"I've never seen him so fascinated with something," Peter said in amazement, as three successive pieces of trash hit him in the forehead and he didn't even blink.

Remus glanced up. "Well, at least we know he can read. I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted."

As he got up and left the room, Sirius finally looked up, and his eyes followed him up the stairs. As soon as he was gone, Sirius slammed his book shut and sprinted out of the Common Room with it. Peter and James stared at each other.

"...What was _that_?"


	3. In Which Sirius Behaves Oddly

Chapter 3: In Which Sirius Behaves Oddly - in More Ways than One

A/N: I owe most of this chapter to "Shoot the Moon" by AriaStar, which is one of my favorite Marauders stories ever. This chapter probably resembles that story more than I intended it to. Believe me, I wasn't attempting copywright infringement, and I didn't even have the story available when I wrote this (I was in a bloody campground, for God's sake). I've simply read it so many times that it's sunk into my head to the point where I get it mixed up with Canon. So no flames on that point, please.

Disclaimer: If I was JKR, I would be richer, prettier, older, and more brilliant. But I'm not any of those things, and, as such, I don't own the Harry Potter series. Oh well. I'll try again in another life...

* * *

Sirius' brain was racing so fast he could barely keep up with it. A vague thought was forming in his mind, and it had been becoming clearer and clearer for the last week. He had been dropping casual hints for some time now, and Peter and James were totally oblivious, but he had been able to catch the fear in Remus' eyes. 

He had been observing Remus carefully ever since the end of last year. He had noticed how sick he looked every month. He had noticed every little distraction he used to blindside Sirius' direct questions. His eyes caught how Remus froze when he asked him if he was bitter about werewolves. He noticed when Remus came right out of his sleepy haze when he had been called "moon-boy." Remus always relaxed when he thought Sirius didn't see, but he did see, and he had been taking careful note of everything.

Little things that had bothered him for months were starting to come together, like pieces of some mysterious puzzle. Remus had looked positively sickened during the lesson about werewolves. He had written his entire essay without taking any notes or looking in any books. Sirius had caught the smile on his face when they were talking about werewolf rights. He had heard the passion and bitterness in his voice when he talked about people who became werewolves on purpose.

It was impossible. It was improbable. And he was afraid it was true.

He just needed to check a few facts, which was why he was currently sprinting towards the Astronomy Tower. A few of the teachers looked strangely at him, but he was halfway up the stairs before any of them could open their mouths.

Professor Sinistra seemed to be missing from her room, but the door was unlocked, and he quietly let himself in and began looking through papers.

"C'mon, c'mon, I know I saw 'em last week in class...I know they're here somewhere...c'mon...aha! Moon charts! Victory!"

Sirius grabbed the charts and spread them out on the table. Immediately, his mouth sank into his stomach. "No...no..."

The last full moon had been at the beginning of September. Remus had been in the Hospital Wing that day. The one in October had been a this week. They had been doing homework about Grindylows and scaring Peter about werewolves...it had been a full moon that night! Sirius remembered thinking he had heard a howl. He was fairly sure it was his imagination, but still...

Sirius flipped through the charts. And before that...before that...in August they had tried to set a date to go to Diagon Alley and the date he had suggested Remus had said he couldn't come...it had been a full moon. In July...Remus hadn't answered his letter until four days after he got it, which _never_ happened...Sirius checked the date. It had been a full moon. In June...June...finals week, Remus had looked sick and had almost fallen asleep during the History of Magic final. They had put it down to staying up too late studying, but...it had been a full moon.

And it had been like that every other month of the year. Remus would be sick a couple days, miss one night, and then look sick for the rest of the week.

Sirius swore under his breath and leaned back in his chair to think. It had been one thing to talk gaily about werewolf rights and forming a committee to change the world, but an actual werewolf in their presence was another thing entirely. He wasn't sure what to think. Years and years of being told that werewolves were evil Dark Creatures didn't go entirely unnoticed.

But it was _Remus_. Remus was the farthest thing from a Dark Creature he had ever met. Remus wasn't the kind of psychotic fanatic that would go around biting people on purpose. Remus was kind and smart and quiet. He was sure that if Remus was a werewolf, he would do everything he possibly could to prevent himself from biting anybody. Remus would probably go insane with guilt if he ever did bite someone by accident. And the look in his eyes when they had talked about people who became werewolves on purpose...

Sirius brought the chair legs down with a bang. He had made up his mind. He wasn't going to let Remus suffer like that, and by God, if he could find a way to help him, he _would_. No matter how dangerous it was.

With that thought in his mind, he pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of the book he was still carrying and began scratching down the dates of the full moons starting from last June - partly because he wanted evidence for James and Peter, and partly because he wanted a reference so that he could keep track of the full moon for the rest of the school year.

Then he quietly gathered up the moon charts, put them back where he found them, and snuck out of the Astronomy Tower, thanking all his lucky stars that Professor Sinistra hadn't walked in on him.

* * *

"Where's Remus?"

"Upstairs, asleep. Why?" James asked, looking at Sirius with a puzzled expression.

"There's something I want to ask him." Sirius started for the stairs.

"Sirius, your homework still isn't finished! You've been reading that werewolf book all night, you're going to be in trouble tomorrow!" James admonished.

"This is more important."

"You have a twisted idea of what's important," Peter pointed out, "You're not going to hex Snape's underwear again, are you?"

Sirius gave him a pained look. "Of course I'm not going to hex Snape's underwear, Peter! We _never _do the same prank twice. It's something else." And with that, he sprinted up the stairs two at a time.

"There's something funny about him..." James said unnecessarily.

* * *

Sirius had run up the stairs, but when he reached their dorm, he stopped with his hand an inch away from the doorknob. He realized that he hadn't thought this out at all, and he didn't know what on earth he was going to say. How did one admit to their best friend that they knew he was a werewolf? "Hi, Remus, felt like howling at the moon lately? When was the last time you grew fangs and wanted to bite somebody?" Sirius winced as he pictured the expression on Remus' face. It wasn't a happy one.

He sighed and sank down to the floor, leaning his back against the wall. He would have to find some way of presenting the information in a roundabout fashion, some way to skirt the facts until absolutely necessary, the same technique Remus used to avoid the subject...

Sirius sat up straight as something clicked on inside his head. That was _perfect_. He stood up again, took a deep breath, and opened the door to the dormitory.

Remus wasn't asleep. He was sitting next to the window, looking out at the grounds.

"Hi, Remus," said Sirius, announcing his presence.

Remus turned around. "Hi, Sirius. What's going on?"

Sirius grinned lopsidedly. "Well, I was thinking." He held up the book he had been reading and showed it to Remus. He wouldn't even have seen the fleeting expression that crossed his friend's face if he hadn't been looking for it. "Y'see, this book has all these neat things about werewolves. Y'know how we were talking about forming a werewolf rights committee?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I know James says it wouldn't work, but I want to try anyway."

"Why do you want to do something like that?"

"Well, it's a long story, d'you want to hear it?"

Remus had a guarded expression on his face now. Sirius hadn't realized til now what he was guarding. "Go ahead," he said.

Sirius grinned. "Well, I really like this subject, you know. I was reading in this book and it was talking about werewolves that have been bitten by accident - y'know, what they're like during most of the month."

"And?"

"It said that a lot of them feel very guilty about their lycanthropy - that is an awesome word - and they try to make up for it by being really good people the rest of the time."

"It said that?" Remus looked mildy interested, but Sirius was willing to bet that his interest was more than just mild.

"Yeah, isn't that great? It's a lot nicer than 'werewolves are evil, let's fill all of them with silver,' isn't it? And then I was reading more, and I started thinking."

"There's a change."

"Ha ha." Sirius pulled out his list of dates, and he could have sworn Remus' face froze when he saw them. "Look at this..." and he started explaining about the moon charts, the books, everything. Remus' expression got more and more blank and guarded, as he listened politely to what Sirius had to say.

"So...what's the point?" He asked when Sirius had finished.

Sirius grinned broadly at him. "I think you're a werewolf."

Remus stared at him. "_Why_ are you smiling!"

"Are you kidding? It's _cool!_ You're the nicest person I've ever met, I would never guess that you had such a dark secret. And Dumbledore must think it's safe, right? Or he wouldn't have let you come here."

"True...but Dumbledore's not an average wizard."

"Yes, but that's what makes people trust him. And anyway, you heard us all talking about werewolf rights. Remus, I understand why you were afraid to tell us, but I'm not going to stop being your friend. I want to help you!"

"What?"

"I want to help you! I know I can't cure your lycanthropy, but I'm going to find a way to help make it easier, okay?"

"You're nuts."

"Yeah, probably."

"No, really, I mean it. There's not much you can do to help a werewolf."

The haunted look in Remus' eyes scared Sirius, and he was more glad than ever that he had decided to accept Remus. He sat down on the floor, and Remus slid down from the window sill to sit next to him. "Well, Dumbledore must have done something for you," Sirius said at last, "What did he do?"

Remus hesitated. "Well...you know the Shrieking Shack?"

"Where all the ghosts are?"

"There are no ghosts."

"What?"

Remus sighed. "They built it so that I would have somewhere to go when I transform. They dug a secret passage between here and the school, and they planted the Whomping Willow over the entrance to the passage."

"But how do you get in?" Asked Sirius, who was completely fascinated.

"There's a knot that you can press that will make the Willow stop moving and open the passage. Madam Pomfrey takes me down there once a month and lets me in, and then comes to get me the next morning."

"That is so _cool!_"

Remus laughed. "I'm glad you think so."

"But where does the thing about the ghosts come from?"

Remus looked down. "It's me. The shrieking they hear is me."

They were both silent as Sirius digested this. Remus stared at his hands, afraid that when he looked up he would see pity in Sirius' face, and that was the last thing he wanted from Sirius.

"I'm going to do something about it."

Remus looked up, surprised. Sirius was not taking pity on him at all, but there was a muscle tightened in his face that Remus had never seen before. "What?"

"I'm going to do something. I'm going to help you. What kind of friend would I be if I sat here every night imagining you screaming and tearing yourself apart and not even lifting a finger to help? I'm going to help."

"There's nothing you can do for me."

Remus thought later that he should have known better than to tell Sirius Black there was nothing he could do. Sirius just shook his head. "I'm going to do _something_. You'll see. I just have to do some more research..."

"If you say so," shrugged Remus.

"Are you going to tell Peter and James?"

"What?"

"Remus, you have to tell them. You know they think the same as me."

"Sirius..."

"C'mon, Remus, they're my best friends. There's no way I can keep a secret like this from them, you may be used to it, but I'm terrible. We're going to have to tell them.

"Yeah...I guess they'd figure it out eventually."

Sirius smiled sympathetically. "I'll tell them for you if you like."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'll do it right now! Here, wait here."

"Sirius! Wait! SIRIUS!" But it was too late. Sirius had already gone running down the stairs, yelling "James! Peter! There's something I have to tell you!"

Remus groaned and sank back against the wall, not sure how much of this he could take tonight, or how long he wanted to wait to find out what they thought.

It seemed to take days before James and Peter came thundering up the stairs. When he heard their footsteps, Remus could have sworn his heart stopped. This was it. It was time to face the music...vaguely he wondered if he should start packing his stuff, because if they told anybody it would be the end of his time at Hogwarts.

The door opened and James and Peter stood there looking at him for what felt like an eternity. Was that fear in their faces? Remus' heart had started again, but now it was thumping like it was trying to get out of his chest.

"So," said James finally, "We going to start that Werewolf Rights Committee?"

Remus stared at him in shock, refusing to believe it. They didn't really want to help him, did they? But James was giving him a lopsided smile, and Peter was beaming at him, and he couldn't help it. He grinned. "All right, but I'm not your mascot."

The room rang with their laughter, and if anyone asked why there was water coming out of his eyes, he would just say he was laughing too hard. Over James' head, Remus could see Sirius beaming at him. A strange feeling rose in his chest, and something else slowly started to ebb away. For the first time since he was four years old, he felt _accepted_. Maybe even...liked. And even better, for some reason, he wasn't afraid.


	4. In Which the WRC Takes Action

Chapter 4: In Which the Werewolf Rights Committee Takes Action

A/N: This has been revised to fit HBP canon, and I've tweaked some characterization details along the way.

Disclaimer: If I thought I owned any of this, would I be posting it here? No. I'd be selling it to publishing companies trying to get rich off of plagiarism. But I'm not, and I don't. JKR rules too much for me to even consider making money off her genius. I hope she doesn't mind that I play with it a little bit, though.

* * *

_"They became Animagi...it took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it...Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it..."_

"REMUS! RemusRemusRemusRemus REMUS!"

"MR. BLACK!"

Sirius stopped short in his tracks. "Yes, Madam Pomfrey?"

"You are NOT to come running into the Hospital Wing! I cannot believe--"

"But there's something I have to show Remus!"

"He needs his rest, and he doesn't need you jumping on his bed screaming!"

"C'mon, pleeeeeeeeease? I have to give him his notes from class, he missed three days and you know Remus, he's mad about school, he's probably going crazy, and just please let me give him my books and then I swear I'll leave!"

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips disapprovingly. "All right, you may have twenty minutes, and not a second more! And be quiet, or you'll not come in here again!"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey..." Sirius put a finger to his lips and tiptoed towards Remus' bed dramatically.

"Good," the nurse said tersely, and left the room before Sirius could see her lips twitching.

Remus was sitting up in his bed, watching Sirius with amusement. "So, if you came to give me your notes, why did you run in here screaming?"

"That's not why I came," Sirius said, then caught Remus' look. "No, I'll give you my notes, too, here, let me dig them out--" He rummaged through his bag, came up with several wrinkled, inkstained pieces of parchment and shoved them in Remus' hands.

Remus looked warily at the parchment. "Um...I think I'll use James' notes..."

"No, keep them, I don't need them."

"I can see that."

"Are you mocking me, Moon-boy?"

Remus' lips twitched. "Maybe."

"Because if you are, I won't show you the great idea I had."

"Does it involve turning Snape's hair pink?"

Sirius gave him a scornful look. "_No, _in fact, it doesn't, although that's a very good idea, you should write it down."

"I'll do that. So what's your great idea?"

"Here, look at this..." Sirius put a book in his lap and pointed at a passage.

"The werewolf's only prey is human beings. At every full moon, the person will become a wolf and seek to taste human blood. Any human that receives a non-fatal bite from a werewolf will become a werewolf themselves. If the werewolf cannot get any humans to eat, it will resort to trying to eat itself," Remus read. "Sirius, I know all this, why are you making me..."

"No, no, keep reading, you're almost to the good part."

"However, the werewolf is not, in fact, harmful to animals. In fact, in the presence of other animals, the werewolf ceases to be dangerous and becomes almost docile in nature, more like a normal wolf than a dangerous beast." Remus stopped. "Is that it?"

Sirius was beaming at him. "Yes! That's IT!"

"...what's the point?"

"Don't you get it! There's only one way to calm down a werewolf, and that's to put it with other animals!"

"So what are you going to do, catch rabbits and put them in the Shrieking Shack with me? Sirius, I don't think that'll do much good..."

"No, you dolt, we're going to _become_ animals."

"What?"

"Animaguses! We're going to become Animaguses!"

"It's Animagi, Sirius. And that's incredibly hard to do, not to mention that you'd have to get registered and the Ministry would never let--"

"Who said anything about registering?"

Remus gasped. "But that's illegal!"

"So? It's only illegal if you get caught, Moony."

"I thought it was Moon-boy."

"Moony sounds better, and it's less obvious."

"If you say so. And stop trying to distract me!"

Sirius grinned at him. "Ahem. Pot. Kettle."

"Well, your name _is _Black."

"And I have never regretted anything more."

"Getting back to the point, there is no way you're risking a sentence in Azkaban just for me!"

"Aw, c'mon, Remus, we can do it! Look, if you're really that worried, here's what I'll do. I'll look up every single law on the Animagus transformation and all the penalties and everything, and I'll show them to Peter and James, and I'll let them decide whether it's worth the risk."

"And what about you?"

"I _know_ it's worth the risk," Sirius said with his brilliant grin.

Remus felt an odd sensation in his chest area. "Well...if you're sure..."

"YES! I knew I could convince you!"

Remus grinned at him. "You're _crazy_. If you get yourself killed, I'll murder you."

"Great threat, Moony. Listen, Old Lady Pomfrey is giving me death glares. I've got to go."

"All right. Listen, Sirius..."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Sirius flashed him a smile. "No problem, Moony. Bye!" He bounced out of the room.

* * *

"Hey, Moony, you're back!" James said, looking up from his Charms essay.

Remus slid into a chair between James and Sirius and grinned. "No, not really. Madam Pomfrey has locked my body in the Hospital Wing, but I convinced her to send a projection of me into the Common Room so I could do my homework and go to class tomorrow."

"That figures," Peter said, "Moony wouldn't miss a day of class if he was unconscious in St. Mungo's."

"So, you going to help us become Animaguses?" James said casually, pulling a book towards him.

"Animagi." Remus glanced at Sirius. "You don't waste time, do you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm sure. This is why I don't like staying in the Hospital Wing - I come out and Sirius has corrupted all of you to do his evil bidding."

"Mwahahahaha. Exactly. You've discovered my nefarious plan, Moony, I must now destroy you."

"I tremble with fear. So, you even convinced Peter?"

"You know, he is in the room," Sirius pointed out.

"Yeah, thanks for talking about me like I'm not here, Moony."

"You were studying. So how did they corrupt you into doing their evil bidding?"

"Threatened me with death, of course." Peter grinned at him. "James and Sirius said they would help me. What, did you think I'd want to sit alone in the dorm alone once a month? If we get caught, it was all Sirius' idea."

"I'm with you on that one, Pete," James said.

"Hey! Are you all against me?" Sirius protested.

"Yes," they all said at once.

"Fine, but just remember this was _my_ idea."

"Oh, we will," James assured him. "So...what's our plan of action?"

"Well, first we need to sneak into the library and get a few books out of the restricted section..."

"You don't waste time breaking rules, do you, Sirius?" Remus said.

"No, of course not, we might as well do the thing properly."

Remus sighed. "Is there any use in trying to talk you out of this?"

"No," said James and Sirius at once.

Peter just shrugged. "If everyone else is in, so am I."

"Did Sirius show you the laws?"

"Yes, but we decided we think we can get away with it," said James, "When have we ever missed a chance to break the rules?"

"Never, obviously."

"So, we already went to the library and got out a list of books we need, do you think we should sneak out tonight and get them?"

Peter looked up. "But we have three essays to do tonight and I think I'm failing Potions and--"

James and Sirius sighed in exasperation. "Peter--" James began.

"James, he's got a point. This is going to take a lot longer than a few days," Remus interrupted, "Maybe you should go ahead and buy them, so that Madam Pince doesn't try to kill us all when she discovers that some of her books are missing."

"Good point, Moony. When's the first Hogsmeade Weekend?"

"Halloween," Sirius said promptly.

"That's a week from now," James said thoughtfully. "D'you think we can wait that long?"

Remus groaned. "You three have no idea how to do research, do you?"

"No, not really," Sirius said happily, "Enlighten us, O Professor Moony."

"You have to start small. You can get books from the regular library and find out about the basics of the Animagus transformation, and they usually have an index of books that you can get to find out more about certain subjects."

"Moony, you're a genius. All right, we'll go to the library tomorrow and _legally_ get books," Sirius said.

"Thank you," Remus said.

"Can we finish these essays now? I don't understand what this means..." Peter showed James a part of the book he was trying to read, James groaned about how thick he was, and they were back into their regular studying patterns.

* * *

That night, as they were getting ready to go to bed, Sirius noticed that Remus was still frowning slightly. "What's wrong, Moony? Something worrying you?"

"No...it's just..are you _sure_ this is going to work?"

"What?"

"The Animagus transformation. Are you positive you can do it?"

Sirius, James and Peter all came to sit next to his bed. "Well, no," said James, "But we've got to try, haven't we?"

Remus shook his head. "Don't you know what can go wrong if you don't do it right? I'm just afraid of what's going to happen if you botch it. You'll be in trouble with a lot more than the law."

"Moony, you worry too much," James said, "If it'll help you, we're willing to risk that."

Remus stared at them. In every single one of their eyes, there was unflinching devotion. He had never had anything like that directed towards him. "You've done enough already," he whispered hoarsely.

"What d'you mean?" Sirius said.

Remus looked down at his knees. "Well, every other person that's found out about...me...hasn't acted anything like this. My family's had to move eight times because somebody in the village found out and chased us out. I've never had any friends for more than a year, and most of them didn't last that long. I just...don't you think you've done enough already? I don't need all this, it's enough that you're...still here."

His friends were quiet, just looking at him. He was afraid to look up and meet their eyes, because he wasn't sure what he would see there, but, again, Sirius surprised him.

"What kind of gits do you think we are?"

Remus' head snapped up. "What?"

"What kind of heartless--" Sirius said a phrase that was unprintable "--would do something like that? Do you really think so little of us?"

"Well, no, but it's a bit of a surprise to me that--"

"We're going to help you, Remus, the rules be damned, your so-called 'old friends' be damned, and--EVERYTHING be damned! It was the damn laws that got you in this situation in the first place, and if it's the same laws that take away the rights you deserve that keep us from becoming Animaguses--"

"Animagi," Remus interrupted.

"--to help you, then to hell with the laws, to hell with the Ministry, and to hell with anything that tries to stop us!" Sirius took a deep breath.

"...well, that's one way of putting it," James said after a long silence. "I think you get the point, Remus. There's no stopping us now."

Remus couldn't stop himself from smiling. "I feel sorry for the poor bloke that tries to put you in Azkaban, Sirius."

"Damn straight." Sirius' eyes were glinting with something Remus couldn't put his finger on.

"Then it's decided," James said in a tone of finality. "We're doing it, and you might as well shut up and let us, Moony."

"Oh God, what have I _done_?" Remus groaned, putting his head between his knees.

"You've created a MONSTER!" Sirius boomed, and it surprised everyone that there was no flash of lightning to accompany his words. "MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Peter shrieked, and if he had been smaller, he would have tried to hide under the bed. As it was, everyone burst out laughing and he turned three shades of red before James finally clapped him on the back and gave him a Chocolate Frog "to calm his nerves." They ended up staying up half the night eating candy, finally falling asleep at 2 am and again in History of Magic the next day.

Remus smiled to himself at the memories. It had taken them the better part of their third year and all of their fourth and fifth years to do it, but, somehow, they had finally managed to complete the transformation. It had been a great source of amusement when Peter's Animagus form had turned out to be a rat, when he was so terrified of them. Well, that had soon changed. Peter had joked that now that he felt a certain affinity for rats, he was more scared of dogs, at which point Sirius would start pretending to foam at the mouth and try to bite Peter.

Remus sighed as he remembered the look in Sirius' eyes when he was telling him that they cared enough about him to put their lives in danger, and anyone who got in their way could go to hell. "I feel sorry for the poor bloke that tries to put you in Azkaban," he had said.

A sharp wave of bitterness hit him at the thought. It was funny, the way your words came back to haunt you years later. There had been a fire in Sirius' eyes when he had said that, and Remus realized what it was now - loyalty. He had always been loyal to Remus, even if he wasn't to James and Lily. Would Sirius have betrayed him, if he was given the chance? Remus didn't know, but there was no way he could find out. All he knew was that Sirius had defended him, risked his life for him...even when Sirius had sent Snape down into the Willow after Remus, he hadn't said anything outright, and that had been out of pure recklessness.

Sirius. So he was Sirius again, was he? Remus sighed. He was always so careful not to think his first name, but somehow in his recollections of the boy he used to know, Remus could never bring himself to think of his old friend as simply "Black." It was a name Sirius had hated - it was the name of the man who sold out Lily and James, and not the name of Remus' friend. They may as well have been two different people in Remus' mind.

If he betrayed Sirius now, if he told his secret to Dumbledore, he would be committing the same crime Black committed when he sold Lily and James to Voldemort. He would be going back on his friends. He couldn't sink that low. Let the Dementors take care of it. He would help search for him, if he found him, he would turn him in, but he would not give away the secret to Dumbledore. Sirius had always kept his secret for him - he could do the same, no matter how little Black deserved it.

FIN


End file.
